Benjamin Barker's Return
by ChaoticOasis
Summary: The aftermath of the movie, right after the Final Scene. Johanna, Antony and Toby remain. What will the three characters do now? What do they know? What do they feel?
1. Benjamin Barker

**Hello! This is a story about the aftermath of the movie Sweeney Todd. It happens right after the end of the movie, so I would suggest that you should watch that before reading. This does not, unfortunately, follow the String of Pearls - Penny Dreadful featuring Sweeney Todd or the stage production, but I do hope to read the former and see the latter, if it comes back. I would probably buy my way to the States, or even Europe, to see that.**

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A torrential downpour burst from the sky as Toby emerged from the cellar. He stalked up the stairs and into Mrs. Lovett's house, where he collapsed on the well upholstered fainting couch. He broke out into small, devastated sobs as he dropped the bloody razor. _I… didn't…did… harm, _Toby's mind whirred, only spurting out a few comprehensible words here and there. They were all part of the same, however.

_I didn't keep my promise. Something did harm her…_

"Johanna!"

Antony burst into the dark room, drenched. He heard and faint noise from bellow, but ignored it. His eyes fell upon the lovely Johanna, barely visible yet still lovely, huddled under the vanity. Her eyes were red and watery, and she was holding on to some peculiar item. Antony gathered himself and walked slowly over to Johanna.

"Johanna…" he said, as he bent down so he could see under the vanity. Johanna's eyes shot open then relaxed in a second, and her grip on the intricately decorated wooden box tightened. "Are you okay?"

All he got was a choked sob as Johanna's head fell to her chest.

"Johanna!" the words echoed through the room as he swept the trembling girl into his arms. Thunder erupted outside and lightning illuminated the oddly shaped room. Antony took in the scene, and felt his throat tighten. Blood… everywhere. On the chair, on the window, on the floor. He could even see dried blood on the wooden chest across from him. He held Johanna tighter and began to rock slightly. He put his head in the crook of Johanna's neck and whispered to her.

"Nothing's gonna harm you. Never again…"

Toby's eyes were still red, and slightly watery, but he gathered up the strength to walk. He heard the door to the demon's lair slam above him, and his paranoia got the best of him. He picked the bloody razor off the ground, wiped the demon's blood on a piece of his clothing, and climbed the stairs up to the lair.

He peered through the window of the door, fully expecting to see the demon claiming yet another life, with a huge, maniacal grin on his face. Perhaps he was now going to kill the kid of that poor Benjamin Barker guy he had killed not more than a half hour ago. Benjamin Barker. He would remember forever the sound of the demon screaming the man's name.

He opened the door, and stepped into the room. He froze as he saw the two young adults huddled under the vanity. They froze as well, and stared wide eyed at the young boy with the razor that glinted in the little amount of light from the London streets. He was vaguely aware that he had the razor pointed out in front of him, and dropped his arm to his side. Toby's eyes caught a glimpse of the blood on the window as the lightning flashed.

Benjamin Barker.

"Who… who are you?"

Toby's eyes shot towards the voice. It was the girl. She was looking at him, with eyes so much like his. Full, beautiful, sad eyes. She had yellow hair. He remembered the demon talking about yellow hair once. The thought of the demon pierced through him again, and his look turned into a glare as all he could see was the demon. In her face. She looked so much like him, and as much as he wanted to hate her for it, she didn't have his evil. _Or, _he corrected himself, _maybe I just can't see it. _

It was the now the other boy's time to talk. He looked at Toby, holding the razor with a smeared streak of blood on it at his side, and got up from under the vanity. The girl clung to him frantically, and the boy wrapped his arms around her, protectively. As if to say _if you take a step towards her, you'll regret having brought that razor up here. _Toby looked at the young man, and saw nothing of the demon. Only a man completely infatuated with this girl.

"What is your name, boy?" Antony spat out, no fear left in him. Only determination.

Toby continued to look into the young man's eyes. His mind stopped reeling.

"Benjamin Barker."

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At this point, I don't know if I'll continue. I may if people want me to. I'd love to hear your thoughts on the story though, and even critique (even though I don't consider myself a writer).


	2. Father

"No, Antony, we have to go back!" she said as she struggled to be released from Antony's hold. "I need… to… talk to that boy!"

She had freed herself and ran as fast as she could back towards the shop. Antony, not having much experience but being vaguely aware that Johanna would not be budged if she made up her mind, decided not to make her stay with him for the time. Of course, he would be following her for her protection.

Antony took this time chasing after Johanna to notice some things about her. One very obvious thing was that she wasn't a very good runner. _She'll need to become one, _Antony thought suddenly, _if we're to escape the judge's clutches. _All of a sudden his thoughts turned to Mr. Todd, though he didn't know why. Then he remembered that the only reason they were in London in the first place was because of that man. He smiled at the thought, because these events had in turn brought him to his dear Johanna. He continued looking on towards her, keeping track of her and their surroundings, while they ran through the rainy, London streets.

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Toby found himself sitting in the barber's chair. He sat perfectly still, letting his eyelids slide over his eyes slowly. Looking at nothing, his mind began to whirr. Images; bloody, graphic images began to pour from his mind. The horrors that had occurred in this room flooded him. He began to shake and twitch, as the thoughts and pictures in his mind became more and more graphic, more and more _real._ His stomach flipped, his heart pounded and his blood raced. One after the other, the presences of the men who had met their doom in this very chair haunted him and pierced him. The one presence that had the most effect, however, was the demon's lingering blood lust.

He felt it in his own heart. The want of revenge. The want of blood.

"No!" cried Toby, not aware that he had screamed just like the demon had not too long ago in this very house. "I… am not… like that _demon,_" he growled.

He pulled himself out of the chair and faced it. He studied it before moving, but being a young and uneducated child, he had little knowledge of the workings of pulleys and gears. So, he pressed and prodded the chair wherever he could, until finding the pedal that released the trap door. He jumped back, startled, when he saw the chair and floor simultaneously drop. He flinched again when the footrest pushed and came back into position, making him think of the many bodies that had been pushed like that. _Where did a man like that learn how to build such a device?_

The door crashed open, and the bell went off. Toby jumped to his feet and brandished the razor, only to find that girl standing just through the doorway. That girl, who looked so much like the demon. The boy was standing right behind her, and they were both staring right at him. He lowered the razor, knowing that the boy could easily disarm him and turn his own weapon against him. _His own weapon…_ he thought.

"Ben – sorry, Mr. Barker?" asked the girl, sheepishly. She was shy, but she wasn't afraid, Toby noticed. Toby sat beneath the slanted window, near the vanity, and played with the razor.

"Yes?" he asked quietly. He watched the two come forward cautiously, the demon-girl just in front of the boy.

"I was… just wondering…" she began timidly. "If you're name happens to be the same as your fathers?"

The word father pierced through both Toby and Johanna, though neither knew of the other's lack of a true father. Also, neither knew that the other had had a twisted version of a father figure at some point, just like themselves. Toby began to play with the razor again as he answered.

"I'm not sure. All I know is that I was raised in the orphanage."

"Oh…" said Johanna, with an air of disappointment. "That's too bad. That name… it's the same name as my father's. My true father, I mean."

"Your father?" Toby asked quickly, getting up and dropping the razor. The scream of that name from earlier that day (could it really have only been that long ago?) repeated itself in his mind as he stepped towards the young adults. "Are you sure that was your father's name?"

Johanna saw a mix of fear and interest in the boy's eyes, the one's that looked so much like her own. "Well, no, I'm not sure. I don't remember my father myself, but Judge Turpin has told me a little of my origins. A piece of that story was that my father's name was Benjamin Barker, and he was a man guilty of a heinous crime."

"Um…" the boy was at a loss for words.

"I believe he was murdered tonight, by that bloody barber." She spat out, angrily. Antony could see her shaking, but kept his distance from her. The boy, with the big eyes, went blank.

"You heard him! You heard him too!" the boy exclaimed. "You head the scream of the name Benjamin Barker! Oh, I knew it was true!" He stared up into Johanna's eyes, and he could see the understanding.

"I was in the trunk, hiding. For a second, I though I heard Judge Turpin's voice, but his voice always haunts me so I ignored it. That voice however, the voice of that barber, was unmistakable." Johanna stopped, recalling the events of the night. "Then, I took a look to see what was going on, and the barber saw me and pulled me out. Then he asked me if I wanted a shave, and I tried to explain why I was there, but he cut me off and said that everyone needed a shave. Luckily, someone screamed – oh, how can that be lucky? It's awful! – and the barber said to forget his face and he left."

Antony, who had stayed quiet this whole time, stood there, registering this information.

"Mr. Todd… murdered those people?" He said with a horrified face. "Are you quite sure? Are you?"

Johanna looked at him sadly. "There was no mistaking it. I'm not sure where the body went, but the blood and accessories remained. Mr. Todd, he had a strip of white hair, right? Well, he was covered in it, and when he said everyone needed a shave… I could tell."

He looked to Johanna, then looked down. "I… almost had you killed Johanna. I'm so sorry… I thought… Mr. Todd… how could he have done these things? He must be punished! We'll notify the authorities at once, and we'll get the Judge and the Beadle down here –"

"He's dead. Sweeney Todd is dead."

Antony and Johanna both looked at the young boy. He looked at the razor, twisting it this way and that so that the sun reflected of it from different angles. Antony stepped forward, a look of confusing stuck on his face.

"But, how-"

"I killed him."

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**I hope you guys like where this is going! It won't be too long, maybe five chapters at most. Reviews are greatly appreciated, critiques are encouraged (again, I still don't consider myself a writer, haha). **


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